A Historical Anthology from Technology and Culture

With some two million practitioners, engineers form one of America's largest professional groups; indeed, it is the single largest occupation of American males today. The rise of this profession and its place in American society provide the focus for this anthology.

Spanning two centuries and the various subdisciplines of the field, these essays demonstrate the paradoxical role engineers have played in building (although usually not controlling) the infrastructure on which America's prosperity is based. This collection of seventeen essays traces the rise of the engineering profession and its evolving contribution to the development of America's material and economic success. Topics addressed include:

*American engineering's birth from European traditions *Impact of science on engineering practice *Changing relationship between engineers and bureaucratic organizations *Growth of engineering professional institutions

Thoughtfully organized and unique in its scope, this volume will be a welcome overview for both students and scholars of the history of technology.

These essays were originally published in the journal Technology and Culture.

Introduction by Terry S. Reynolds Part I: The Engineer and Engineering in 19th-Century AmericaOverview The engineer in 19th-Century America by Terry S. Reynolds Background Engineers Are People by John B. Rae Practice Turnpike Construction in Antebellum Virginia by Robert F. Hunter Raising and Watering a City: Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough and Chicago's First Sanitation System by Louis P. Cain Andrew A. Humphreys and the Development of Hydraulic Engineering: Politics and Technology in the Army Corps of Engineers, 1850-1950 by Martin Reuss Institutions Engineers and the New South Creed: The Formation and Early Development of Georgia Tech by James E. Brittain and Robert C. McMath, Jr. At the Turn of a Screw: William Sellers, the Franklin Institute, and a Standard American Thread by Bruce Sinclair Part II: The Engineer and Engineering in 20th-Century AmericaOverview The Engineer in 20th-Century America by Terry S. Reynolds Background The Electrification of America: The System Builders by Thomas P. Hughes Mirror-Image Twins: The Communities of Science and Technology in 19th-Century America by Edwin Layton Practice Local History and National Culture: Notions on Engineering Professionalism in America by Bruce Sinclair The Introduction of the Loading Coil: George A. Campbell and Michael I. Pupin by James E. Brittain Charles F. Kettering and the Copper-cooled Engine by Stuart W. Leslie The Scientific Mystique in Engineering: Highway Research at the Bureau of Public Roads, 1918-1940 by Bruce E. Seely Institutions Defining Professional Boundaries: Chemical Engineering in the Early 20th Century by Terry S. Reynolds Academic Entrepreneurship and Engineering Education: Dugald C. Jackson and the MIT-GE Cooperative Engineering Course, 1907-1932 by W. Bernard Carlson The "Revolt of the Engineers" Reconsidered by Peter Meiksins Index

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